Summer Stories
by The Wooden Star Wonder
Summary: Senior year is coming to an end, and the beginning of the best summer of Helga's life is just beginning. R
1. School's Out

Summer Stories

by the Wooden Star Wonder

My disclaimers: Know what I hate? Disclaimers. I mean, I know I don't own Hey Arnold, you know I don't own Hey Arnold, I'm not claiming to own Hey Arnold, so can't we all just get along?

A/N: Here is my very first attempt at a fanfic. I am acknowledging right off the bat, I'm changing characters' personalities, but I'm trying to do it realistically. After all, everyone changes, so to do the PS 118 gang. Anyway, enjoy and review. Thanks.

Chapter the first: School's Out (well, almost)

The days of blond pigtails and pink dresses where long gone for Helga G. Pataki. Seventeen and living life, Helga saw the merit in changing her outfit at least once a day. If you opened up her closet now, it wouldn't be a row of pink dresses that would catch your eye but a variety of different styles. Oh, and what's happened to the pigtails, one might ask. Well, that dark eyebrow had not only been a major source of waxing pain, it also proved to be a glimpse into the future. Naturally, as time would tell, Helga was a dark brown, but, like so many naturally browns do, Helga soon joined the ranks of the dyed blonds. Not unnaturally blond though, just…subtly. If fact, one might say that was the only subtle thing about her.

          Still loud and boisterous, she didn't "take no shit, from nobody". If you pissed her off, she'd tell you. If you treaded on her toes, she'd tell you. And believe you me, if you hurt her, oh brother would she tell you. Outward appearances aside, really she hadn't changed that much.

          Well, there was still one other little, tiny, teensy thing that was different. Arnold was gone. Gone from her shrine in the attic, gone from the school, gone from her life. His parents had taken him away the summer before grade seven. At first she had been heart broken – the volumes of poetry from that era were known as the Blue Period – but, as time will do, she got over the loss, and, with a little trepidation, went on to love again.

          It was the Friday before the last day of class. The last day of high school. Sure, there was still a week of exams to sit through, but then…that's when the greatest summer of Helga's life would begin.

          She met Phoebe on the front steps, just like everyday for the past four years (well excluding Phoebe's bout with mono). Giddily Phoebe jogged up the steps, wrapping her arms around Helga, bouncing from one foot to another. Phoebe's "happy dance", as it had become known as. Especially around exam time and report card time did it frequent the halls of Franky D.'s High School.

          "Wow, Phoebe, calm down. What's got you so…like this?" Helga pushed back away from her friend. Phoebe hadn't changed much, still short and slight. Her glossy, black hair hung a little longer, framing her face, and the baggy sweaters had been plucked from the wardrobe like Helga's rogue brows, but besides that she hadn't changed much.

          "It's our last day of high school! Ever!" She skipped into the building, grinning wildly at Helga. "Don't you see? This is what I've been working towards for so long. This! Graduation! Harvard! This!"

          "You haven't graduated yet. Don't be so confident." She pushed past Phoebe, walking slowly down the hallway, looking about, almost sadly. What? Helga G. Pataki feeling something?

          "I thought that you of all people would know what I was talking about. What about McGill. Montreal? Canadian boys?" Phoebe giggled. "I can't believed you're not happy."

          "Look, Phebes, I'm not not happy, only…pensive." 

          Phoebe rolled her eyes. "That's bullshit. Something's wrong with you, I can tell. But whatever it is, it isn't going to ruin your, or my day. C'mon, Pataki, look alive."

          A smile cracked on Helga's face. She shook her head. "Fine, whatever. I'll be happy today, but tomorrow, oh, you'll have one wet shoulder."

          Phoebe shrugged then grabbed hold of Helga's elbow, wrenching her down the hallway. "We'll be late!"

          "Wouldn't you like to skip homeroom at least once in your entire high school career?"

          "Nope. It's called perfect record, Helga. You should try it sometime." Phoebe looked back at Helga, making a face, before turning back and moving more resolutely forward.

          "Fine, fine." Over a decade of friendship had taught Helga not to get between Phoebe and school. You'd get trampled in the process.

          "Phebes!" Someone at the end of the hallway called. Both girls turned to see the owner of the voice. Correction, if your name was Simon Kneale you could get in between Phoebe and class.

          "Simon!" Phoebe dropped Helga's arm, running to those of her boyfriend of one year and three months. That's another thing that should be mentioned. Did you really think Phoebe and Gerald would be together forever? At the end of grade six they parted on amiable terms. Really, they had never had much in common. Phoebe was smart, she was a thinker. Gerald played sports, watched sports, breathed sports. They came to a point in their relationship where they realized that they had absolutely nothing in common. As such, they split and now Gerald was dating the captain of the school's Girls Lacrosse Team, and Phoebe was going out with the school's head boy, Simon Kneale.

          Six-four and drop dead gorgeous with short locks of black hair that hung about his sculptured face, the head boy was the coveted possession of the small Asian girl. When they started dating, girls would whisper jealously of "that little, dark haired bitch", but that was until they got to know her better. Now, while girls still spoke jealously of Phoebe, they did so with less venom and much more benevolence.

          "Hey, Phebes, you're going to be late." Simon teased, kissing her lightly.

          Phoebe glanced down at her watch, and nodded vigorously. "Shit, you're right." She took off down the hall, once again in possession of a Helga who was protesting mightily. So, it looked like not even the handsome Simon Kneale could stop Phoebe on her last day of high school. 

          Classes went by pretty quickly that day. Well, considering that Helga only attended first period (which turned out to be a snore) and then took an early lunch that extended into the afternoon, classes went by pretty quickly. Her extended lunch was spent, for the most part, lounging in the cafeteria with Lila, Sid, Nadine, and Stinky. The tedium was broken for about a period by Gerald who showed up with a notebook full of Calculus notes that he declared he would never need again. The next hour was spent seeing who could sink the most Calcu-balls into the recycling bin (Nadine had insisted). Not surprisingly, Gerald, the sports star extraordinaire won.

          So why hadn't Helga, and the gang just left school? They weren't attending class, so why stick around? Well, there's an easy question to answer.

          Lila stuck out her wrist, checking her watch. "One more minute." She enunciated. Long gone were her days of irritating phrases like "golly gosh", or "ever so nice". Now, with a head full of chestnut hair, she acted more appropriately for the head cheerleader. She had swapped the dreadful green outfit for knit sweaters and short skirts back in grade seven, and those expressions were replaced with more vulgar phrases along the lines of "darn it", and "frickin' heck". (So, she hadn't changed as much of some of the other PS 118 crew, "frick off".)

          "Ten…nine…eight..." Everyone joined in, intoning each number with growing excitement, "seven…six…five…four…three...two…one." The bell rang. Their last bell ever. Around the table everyone jumped up, slapping high fives, hugging, even a bit of kissing.

          Phoebe arrived a few minutes after the bell on Simon's arm. She grinned at Helga, hugging her tightly.

          "Well, that's that." Helga whispered, squeezing her best friend happily. "High school's over."

          Phoebe drew back from Helga, her eyes dancing. "And the summer of our senior year is about to begin."

          Helga mirrored Phoebe's look, nodding enthusiastically. "I wonder what crazy things we'll do this summer."

          Phoebe shrugged, slipping her arm back around Simon's waist. "Who knows? All I know is it's going to be a summer to remember."


	2. Gerald's News

A/N: Erm, here's my second chapter. Hope you'll read and review. Positive comments are great, but so is constructive criticism ;0) Anyway, I don't own Hey Arnold. If I did, do you think I'd be sitting up in cold Canada? I'd be in Hawaii, partying like I was Craig Bartlett. heheh

Chapter Two: Gerald's News

            Exams passed quickly. Almost too quickly, really – Helga realized as she sat at the exam desk that she probably hadn't studied enough, but really, there just hadn't been enough time. Unfortunately for Gerald, the Calculus notes that he had spent the last day of school ruining would have probably come in handy when studying. Instead, he had to wing it. (Logarithms are inverse exponential equations, no wait, aren't they anti-derivatives?) Phoebe, as was expected, unsurprisingly aced every single exam she wrote, leaving the rest of her friends either cursing her existence, or secretly plotting to steal her brain. Stinky slept in on one of his exam dates and showed up ten minutes late. Luckily he was let in anyway. Lila showed up to her Biology exam and spent most of the time doodling unicorns and dragons. She was already signed up to take the course in summer school, though desperately she was trying to think up excuses to skip out on it. After all, she rationalized, she didn't need to pass Biology to graduate. It was only on her father's insistence that she agreed to make up the course. Nadine had unexpectedly failed Lit. It turned out that her teacher docked marks for skipping, and Nadine had sadly missed a lot of classes. (There was a major bug convention in town!)

            That said, a group of the PS 118 students (plus Simon) had converged on a small diner, exulted in their somewhat victorious end to high school.

            "So," Phoebe began, glancing about expectedly from her perch on Simon's lap, "what's the plan? What crazy things are we going to do before parting?"

            Helga looked up from the sundae she and Lila were attacking. "Crimany, Pheebs, you sound like some sort of cheesy tv voice over. 'What crazy things will our heroes get into next time,'" she intoned, "'stay tuned next time to find out.'"

            Lila laughed through a mouthful of ice cream. "Well, I'll be spending some quality time back at Franky D.'s. You're all welcome to join me." She looked hopefully about the table, everyone averted their eyes. "Fine, whatever. Me and Mr. Bradford will have fun."

            "Not Busy-Hands-Bradford?" Nadine frowned. "You heard what happened with him and that sophomore? I'm glad the only class I'm making up this summer is Lit with Ms Hunter. I like her."

            "And that's why I want someone else to be there with me." Lila pouted.

            "They'll be other students." Simon gave his input from underneath the little Asian.

            "Yeah, but still, it's yucky." Lila sighed, "but enough of my bring down, the rest of you must have some exciting plans."

            "Well, if you call working at Big Bob's Beeper Emporium exciting, my summer is going to be a major roller coaster ride." Helga reflected bitterly on how her father had roped her into working for him (at the family member discount). He was paying fully for her tuition and in return she agreed to work for Big Bob at rates that would make child labourers look overpaid.

            "Well, I'm going to be spending my summer trying to wade through the expected reading my Philosophy course next year requires. I've read through Plato's, The Republican, before, but I think I better review it. That, coupled with Homer's Iliad should keep me occupied for the most part of the summer." Phoebe contributed her exciting plans to the mix.

            "Ah, but babe, I thought we could spend the summer at the beach." Simon whined, making the plaintive "I'm an abused boyfriend" face. "I want to see a lot of you before you leave."

            Phoebe twisted around to look him in the face. She planted a kiss on his nose. "Well, I could probably do some reading at the beach."

            Simon laughed, shaking his head. "Great, that'll be fun. Me, my girlfriend, and Plato, just chillin' on the beach."

            Phoebe answered with a shrug. "Hey, I read somewhere that Plato was a real ladies man."

            "So, you saying you might leave me for him?"

            "Yea, so you better be nice to me." Looking offended, Simon caught Phoebe's chin, kissing her.

            Helga rolled her eyes. "Get a room, you two. I'm trying to eat here."

            "Okay," Simon made as though to stand up, but a soft punch in the shoulder from Phoebe seated him once more. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to do as Helga so politely requested." He shot a puppy-dog look of confusion at Phoebe. She giggled.

            "That leaves you Stinky." Helga looked about the table, taking account of who was present. "What are your great plans?"

            "Well, on account of my uncle's farmhand quitting, I'm gonna work on my uncle's homestead. Riding on back of horses, tending to the garden, going down to the waterin hole with my cousins, it'll be a great summer for me." Stinky took a sip on his Yahoo. "I'm leavin in two days on account of my uncle needing me a lot."

            "So," Lila sigh, "Stinky is the only one with summer that sound remotely fun – that is, if you like playing in dirt, and all. Does anyone else find that ever so depressing?"

            Around the table a communal sigh was issued. Everyone sat there, looking down at the table cloth (studying the intricate checked design). It was an odd sight to see. Six high school graduates, their textbooks barely cold, sitting around a table giving each other pitiful looks. A glob of ice cream dropped, hitting the saucer with a resounding "clump", symbolic of something…but unfortunately no one got a chance to contemplate the meaning as just at that moment, the door burst open and in ran a sweating, grinning Gerald.

            "Guess what, guys!" He looked excitedly from one face to another. Helga shot him a look that said something to the effect of "Drop dead. We don't need any kill-sorrows around here." Gerald missed it. "Fine, then, if no where will guess," he trailed off, acting hurt. But only acting. A second later he was grinning again. "Guess which college just sent me a letter?"

            Again, he looked hopefully around the table. Again, dead silence met his words, so he went on. "Denver State!" paused for effect, "yes, you heard right my quiet friends. Denver State wants me, Gerald, to play for the Denver Pioneers." Another pause. "Their hockey team. Top in the league." He sighed, seeing that no news short of the Pope was right outside the diner would cause anyone to even bat an eyelash (and even the Pope, Gerald wasn't to sure, would cause them to move). "Fine then," he pushed into the booth, placing both elbows on the table, cradling his chin in his palms, "what are we being depressed about?"

            Finally a response was given. "This summer's going to suck." Helga let Gerald in on the secret.

            "Majorly." Lila added from beside Helga.

            "Oh." Gerald fell silent, giving this new news some thought. He looked up, grinning. "Well, that brings me to the next bit of news I have." He glanced around the table at the eyes that had suddenly glazed over once more. (Evidently talking about their depressing summers was the only source of little joy in this small group.) "Anyone up for a road trip?" He grinned at the astonished faces. 

            A smile cracked onto Helga face. She chuckled. "Ooh, we could have our own _Crossroads. I'll be the Britney character, a repressed virgin. And Lila, you could be the snooty black one."_

            Lila clapped her hands together in mock excitement. "Oh, could I?"

            Gerald rolled his eyes, but Helga just continued. "And Gerald, you'll have to be the guy who we found on the street corner who I fall in love with and give my 'flower' to." Everyone was laughing at this point, momentarily forgetting their troubles.

            "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want. I have to be down in Denver by August 19th, and I just thought it might be fun. But if you'd all rather hang around here doing nothing, be my guests. I'll find some people who like to have fun."

            "Wait, wait, wait." Helga grabbed a hold of Gerald's arm as he started to stand up. "I'm sorry, Geraldo. Don't go. I'll come along. Sounds like fun."

            "Really?" Gerald grinned. "Terrific. So, who else can I sign up?"

            A variety of no's came from around the table. Lila had biology. Phoebe had reading to do. Stinky had that dirt farm to help out on. Simon was volunteering at the hospital. Nadine was retaking Lit.

            "Beside," added Phoebe, "don't you have to work for Big Bob this summer, Helga?"

            Helga shrugged. "He'll get over it. I'm not turning down a road trip in order to sell pointless, little, black boxes that beep annoyingly when some irritating person wants to get a hold of you." She turned to Gerald, standing up. "C'mon, let's go find some people who are fun. I bet Eugene or Sid'll come along."

            Gerald followed suit. Standing, he turned back to the rest of them who had descended back into their original funk. "If any of you change your mind, you know where to find me. We're going to fill up the van pretty quickly though, so don't wait to long."


	3. Revelations

AN: What I am working on in this ch is actually less dialog, more action (I find I am man "all talk, no action" kind of author) – so tell me how I did. Oh, and this ch had more swearing than usually mainly cuz I am putting off studying for my calculus exam which is tomorrow, so I'm stressing a little. Damn procrastination. And in conclusion, I own Hey Arnold, and every one of you that has written an HA fanfic will be getting their court summons soon. Heheh. Just kidding!!! Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Revelations

"I'll do whatever the fuck I want!" Helga slammed the door. Up and down the street curious eyes turned towards the source of disruption. In exasperation, Helga stormed down the street. A little, old lady who was walking her miniature poodle toward Helga clucked her tongue as they passed. The dynamic blonde spun around on the woman, "Fuck off!" she cursed. 

So, the conversation with Big Bob hadn't gone quite as smoothly as she had hoped. She hadn't expected him to like that she wasn't going to be working for him this summer, but she hadn't thought he would get quite so mad.

"We had an agreement, Hel-ga!" Big Bob enunciated the name – after all, Olga, who was teaching orphans in Latvia computer skills, would never do this to her father. "You can't back out on an agreement!"

"You were going to pay me a penny an hour. Why would I want to stick around for robbery like that - doi!" Helga had no problem matching her father's volume, tone for tone.

"That's bullshit, girly. How can you treat your own father like this? That's what I want to know!"

At this point Helga stormed out. She ran up to her room, pulled together some clothing, and rushed out the door, subsequently terrorizing an entire neighbourhood and a little, old lady and her poodle.

_Why does everyone have to be so fucking stupid._ Helga wondered as she half ran, half thundered down the street towards Phoebe's house. Her best friend would be willing to put her up for a few days just until Big Bob calmed down…that or hell froze over. She'd take whichever came first. Silently, she congratulated herself on having already transferred the tuition funds into her own bank account. There lay Big Bob's first mistake, performing his end of the bargain before she did hers. _Serves him right,_ she rationalized. He could learn an important business lesson from this experience.

Arriving at Phoebe's house, she rang the doorbell furiously, perhaps holding it a bit to long. From inside the house she heard Phoebe's voice, more ferocious than usual, "I'll be there in a moment!" 

The door was opened by the little Asian girl. "Helga!" she exclaimed in surprise. She looked like that wasn't exactly who she had been expecting. "Umm, Helga, come in, I guess." Uncertainly, she stepped aside, allowing her best friend, who was still fuming, step inside.

"Know who's a prick?" Helga began, psyching herself up for a long tirade, "Big Bob, that's who. He's such a fucking prick. And Miriam? She's no better…" Helga threw down her hastily packed bag, pausing in the middle of her rant, "Pheebs, do you have any sodas?" Phoebe wordlessly pointed towards the kitchen. "Great, thanks." Helga started up again, berating her family while at the same  time searching through the fridge for a drink. She stopped suddenly, looking back at Phoebe who was standing silently in the doorway. "Are you listening to me?" At no response, Helga walked over to her friend. "Hello? Earth to Phoebe?"

A wrenching cry stung the air as Phoebe collapsed, suddenly, sinking to the floor. She covered her face in her hands, entire body shaking. Helga dropped the soda, kneeling down. "Phoebe? Pheebs? What's going on? Are you okay?" Big Bob problems forgotten for the moment, she grabbed hold of Phoebe's hands, peeling them off her face. "What's wrong?" she repeated the question in earnest.

Finally, seated on the couch, Phoebe's sobs subsided. "I feel so stupid," she whispered in a tiny voice. With a little prompting from Helga, she continued. "I was expecting Simon, he was supposed to come over this afternoon sometime."

"Oh," Helga quickly exclaimed, "well, if you want, I can leave for a bit. If that's what this is all about." 

Phoebe clawed at Helga, begging her not to leave. "Don't go, it's not that. Don't go." She paused, taking a shaky breath, tears threatening to start again. "Helga," another pause, "Simon's been cheating on me."

The words knocked the breath out of Helga. She was vaguely aware that her jaw had dropped five feet. "What? You must be kidding. Not Simon Kneale." Phoebe nodded. "I'll beat the shit out of him them. I'll beat the fucking shit out of him." She glanced over at Phoebe's overwhelmed face. "Just give me the word."

Phoebe shook her head finally. "No, no, I don't want it to end that way." She sighed, gulping back the impending tears with effort. Resting her head on Helga's shoulder, she sniffed. "I was going to confront him. Today. Before you showed up." She raised her head, looking Helga in the eye. "But now I'm not so sure I'll be able to."

Helga took Phoebe's hands in her own. "You can do it, I know you can. Just tell the bastard to go fuck himself, then slam the door."

"I wish you could do it for me." Came Phoebe's reply, her voice timid, her eyes down cast.

"I wish I could, too, but no, it has to be you."

Phoebe nodded, she knew as well as Helga that it did have to be her, if not only to achieve some kind of closure on the whole situation. Setting back her shoulders, trying to at least look braver than she felt, she stood up. The doorbell rang suddenly (isn't that convenient to the progress of the story? heheh), and with the trilling of the bell, all the resolve seemed to disappear from her frame. She sat back down on the couch, but Helga was there to catch her. Pushing her back up, Helga nudged her towards the door, and, with a deep sigh, Phoebe opened it, face steely as she set herself on Simon Kneale.

Five minutes later, Phoebe stood in front of Helga, tears coursing down her cheeks, yet something in her demeanor was changed. On some strange new level, Helga felt new respect for her friend. Phoebe had been blunt, straightforward, to the point with Simon Kneale. She hadn't cried in front of him. She hadn't asked him why he'd done it, or with who. And when he started to blubber, to beg her to forgive him, when he had said he loved her, she hadn't broken down, instead she held her head higher, and politely shut the door. Simon had stood there, for a few minutes, the hurt puppy dog he had perfected gracing his face, before finally turning to leave.

"So," Helga watched Phoebe carefully, "what happens now?"

But Phoebe was one step ahead of Helga. She wordlessly picked up the phone, and dialed Gerald number which, after over six years, she still knew off by heart. She raised her eyes to meet those of Helga's, a sad smile gracing her face. She took a deep breath and turned back to the phone. "Hello, Gerald," her voice was still shaking a little, though with each moment it grew in confidence, "Gerald, about that road trip - you can count me in."

Helga gave Phoebe a thumbs up, watching her friend with renewed amazement. This was definitely a new Phoebe she was seeing. So changed from the quiet, little girl who, it seemed only moments ago, had been the world's doormat, and now? Well, it looked like the girl had finally grown a backbone. Helga chuckled, Phoebe looked up from the phone and smile. So maybe the summer wasn't going to suck so much.

"By my calculations, with just the three of us in that economically unsound van, it'll cost about $45 a day, without taking into account food, motels, and anything else we might need." Phoebe frowned, glaring down at the offensive paper. She looked up briefly, surveying the dour faces of Gerald and Helga. "And that's per person. Multiplied by the thirty days of driving, that comes out to $1350 dollars just to get the van there. I would estimate that this trip will cost at least $10 dollars a day for food per person, motels will be at least $30 dollars a night, and then adding a bit extra just incase anything unexpected comes up, we're looking at, at least $2500 per person. Minimum."

Helga grabbed the sheet. "Let me look at that. You musta made a mistake somewhere." She scanned the calculations, jabbing a line with her finger. "Like here, under possible car repairs! Nothing'll happen to the old, piece of junk, right Gerald? She's a finely tuned automobile."

"That I bought for about $500 dollars." Gerald intoned, looking guiltily out the window.

"Five-hundred dollars!" Helga yelled, jumping up. "Does it even turn on? Oh god, we're all going to die on this trip, aren't we?" She looked up towards the heavens for an answer…or in this case, towards the ceiling of Phoebe's kitchen.

"Well, if you don't want to come…" Gerald trailed off, trying to act nonchalant.

"Well, bucko, I have to come at this point." Helga stormed, "I'm not crawling back to Big Bob." Oh no, not giving him the satisfaction. She could just see the smug look on his face. He would take her back, giving her back her old job (with a pay cut, of course), she couldn't let him win like that. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she turned back to Phoebe and Gerald, who were furiously going over the numbers again. "I'm sorry," she said through gritted teeth, "just a little stressed out."

Gerald smiled sweetly at her, "No problem." He grimly wondered if this was a prophesy of what the trip was going to be like.

"As I see it, we need to find more people to come. With more people in the van, it'll be more economical to be driving such a large vehicle." Came Phoebe's always level headed suggestion.

"Right," Helga nodded her head, "weren't you going to do that, Geraldo?"

"I talked to Eugene, he can't come. I'm working on Lila. She would come, but her dad is strictly against it." He tapped the table thoughtfully. "I've been meaning to call Sid. He's not doing anything, I don't think. He has a job this summer, but I'm sure he'd blow it off."

"Okay," Phoebe jotted down the names, "we'll have to try Sid. Helga, you talk to Lila, she'll do whatever you say."

Helga nodded. Long gone were the days when her and Lila were enemies. It was odd. Back in grade school, she had despised Lila because she was "ever so sweet", but more than that, because Lila held Arnold's affections and didn't even return them. Arnold was gone now, though, and while Lila was still sickeningly sugary, it didn't bother Helga as much as it use to. If fact, oddly enough, Helga would definitely consider Lila one of her closest friends. She made a mental note to phone Lila.

Just then, as if by magic, or human willpower, Helga's cell phone rang. She glanced down at the screen. "Lila 555-7635" it read. "Lila?" Helga answered.

AN: how's that for a cliffhanger? Yeah, I'm sorry, kinda crappy, but I felt the need to end the chapter. I hope where this is going isn't toooo obvious (even I don't totally know at this point!) Read and Review. As much as I love comments like "this is great", I also enjoy things like "this is how you can improve…." Thanks.


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